Post by Sunday at midnight.
1. Mark Whitaker
2. Beyond Satire? Cracking down on Non-Candidates/Citizens Attempting to "Influence Elections" Now in South Korea: Who is allowed to "Influence Elections" at all, anymore? No one? SK's Repression keeps raising costs for all collective action--even for democratic participation; Maybe South Korea is heading back for dictatorship--which still would fail to stop collective action it would just change it character once more ; and a second article about repressing Twitter, another 'arena' of the Internet unmentioned in our previous articles on media arenas and collective action
3. SK law is being stretched to demote collective action favoring democratic election appeals in elections. Aren't the election laws are exclusively for candidates' being regulated, this is the first time I have seen them applied to non-candidates! Rarely do you see states worldwide encouraging voting, because voting tends to make a state more representative, and most state elites dislike that. (The U.S. has some really repressive voting day rules to minimize turnout still.)
Currently, the crackdown moves into social movement strategies that attempt even democratic voting redress of grievances. However, SK represses this as well.
I predict this will only lead toward more people taking more violent actions and more instability, instead of people sitting through Lee's presidency quietly. Lee's regime is demoting all forms of democratic redress of grievances. His regime is labeling social movements as part of 'electioneering' (which before was a charge against candidates only!) and Korea has some very severe laws on election management. Perhaps President Lee is working on Korean unification by making South Korea a one-party totalitarian police state run by fear as well. Though I sarcastically digress...
We will talk about different classification attempts of repression later. (Particularly the article "Tanks, Tear Gas, and Taxes"--It's a digital article, look it up if you are interested in what she is saying.)
That author describes contexts where most repression is far from overt and visible. Sometimes the attempt to simply apply the law--in areas where it seldom applied before, in a "conceptual stretching"--is a way for state elites to expand repression legally against collective action.
The danger of course is that state repression seldom creates a repressed society entirely (as we have seen in some articles so far).
The Lee government could make everything even more unstable and encourage collective action, since grievances against him are at record levels according to his own polls.
This idea of 'repression of democracy' backfired in 1960. That was the 'social movement frame' that encouraged more collective action as legitimate instead of demoted it. The South Korean government fell in 1960 after a particularly open vote fraud rigged election: repression "didn't work" and instead led toward massive protests and the end of the Rhee regime. I'll talk about this later.
I'm curious about the outcome of regional elections and what will happen if they come up so "pro-Lee" that no one believes it.
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Police continue crackdowns on regional election events
Both the police and election commissions have been accused of violating freedom of expression
Photo: Members of a civic organization wear baseball umpire and football referee uniforms during a protest to ask for fair management from the Central Election Management Committee, April 19. [to get in the media this way, we talked about the powerless and how sometimes framing symbols in a novel way is a major cultural power of change.]
Amid the campaign season for the June 2 regional elections, regional election commissions and police have prohibited or forcibly dispersed events related to the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project and green free school lunches, major issues in this election season, as violations of the Public Official Election Act.
Some are charging that the election commissions and police are applying excessively strict standards and curtailing the freedom of expression.
On April 15, election commissions for Seoul’s 25 districts sent notices stating that green free school lunch signature campaigns taking place in the 25 districts are potentially in violation of election law. In response, campaigns taking place in the districts of Jungnang and Gwangjin were canceled entirely.
This is not the first time election commissions have given notice that the free lunches for elementary and middle school students campaign is potentially in violation of election law. Previously, the Goyang City Election Commission gave notice to civic organizations banning a signature campaign calling for green free school lunches, including the Goyang Citizens’ Council, while the Seoul City Election Commission gave a similar notice to the Korean Teachers’ and Education Workers’ Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo), which is also participating in the free school lunches campaign. On both occasions, the commissions charged that the campaigns violated election law.
In addition to the free school lunches issue, election commissions have also been imposing sanctions in relation to the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. On April 3, the Gyeonggi Province Election Commission launched a crackdown on Four Major Rivers photo exhibitions by Buddhist monk and environmental activist Jayul, held at three locations in downtown Suwon, claiming that these are in violation of election law. And on March 28, the National Election Commission (NEC) gave notice that radio spots recruiting members for the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) and the Four Major Rivers Watchdog group is potentially in violation of election law.
[What public, peaceful strategies of collective action or democratic election pressure from voters are left?]
Meanwhile, police have been forcibly dispersing or arresting participants in assemblies, press conferences and one-person protests in connection with the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project and free school lunches issues, categorizing them as “illegal demonstrations.” On April 19, police forcibly dispersed or restricted one-person protests by members of the 2010 Voter Hope Alliance, held at locations throughout Seoul to call on voters to vote against the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project and in favor of free school lunches.
[Even the collective action strategy of press conferences are repressed.]
On April 5, the police notified Citizens’ Alliance for Environmentally Friendly Free School Meals standing committee chairwoman Bae Ok-byeong that she must report to police on charges of violating on the Law on Assembly and Demonstration in connection with a press conference. That same day, police confiscated a ribbon bearing the name of President Lee Myung-bak and even broke a flowerpot, saying, “The press conference itself is not illegal, but the situation in which comedy is put on mentioning a specific politician’s name is illegal.”
[Comedy is illegal even? In other words...?--using comedy to shame the government and make them look silly? It is unclear to me what symbolic collective action the article is describing.]
Bae said, “All you have to do is have an event in connection with green free school lunches and the election commission will block it as a violation of election law, while the police will block it as a violation of the Law on Assembly and Demonstration.” Bae continued, “The green school lunch movement has been going on since the early 2000s.” She added, “I cannot understand why police officers are saying it is now illegal.”
[Because it's winning massive support according to polls I have seen, so repression is occurring to intimidate people from public support. Perhaps the election may be rigged as a last ditch effort: things like this happen in countries all the time.]
KFEM Secretary General Kim Jong-nam said, “It is a violation of fairness that they do not say a word about publicity or advertisements in favor of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, but only block the opposition.” Kim also said, “It seems as if they are afraid that opinions critical of the government are becoming organized and widespread, so they are shutting them off at the source.”
[The Lee Government knows from its own polls that only 20% of Koreans trust their current National Assembly. They aren't in power with a huge mandate for such changes in any of their policies.]
In response, NEC information officer Kim Dae-nyeon said, “These decisions are not the application of arbitrary standards toward specific events by specific groups, but determinations made according to election law.” Kim added, “Insofar as election law exists so that elections can take place fairly, we hope that civic groups will respect enforcement according to election law.”
[Of course the goverment is consolidating its opposition unfortunately into one very effective strategy, perhaps one of the few left for Koreans: intentionally breaking the law and going to jail in huge numbers. This was done in the Black Civil Rights movement. This was done in the move for independence in India from the British Empire as well. This was to shame both governments for their repressive actions, and to generate forms of media symbolism difficult to delegitimate, creating much "sympathy adherents."]
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) public relations officer Kim Jae-won said, “This is not a case of all events being branded illegal.” [Well, which ones are still legal? Stop feigning ignorance.] Kim continued, “It only refers to instances that violate the Law on Assembly and Demonstration.” Kim also said the actions were “taking place according to procedure based on the Law on Assembly and Demonstration.”
Ahn Jin-geol, director of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) Public Welfare Hope Team, said that election commissions have recently been visiting or contacting groups like his own and the School Meal Network and persuading or ordering them not to hold events. “Because of this, freedom of expression on social issues is being continuously curtailed, including the cancellation of actual events.”
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
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http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/416883.html
1. Mark Whitaker
2. The Attempt to Close the Internet "Media Arena": The War on Twitter by the Lee Government Regarding Elections, whether you are a candidate or just a citizen
3. Look back at the article on 'media arenas.' The internet was left out. Interesting on how social movements are left with using this media arena when all others are very tightly closed to political discussion or open debate in South Korea.
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04-21-2010 19:23
Twitter [Or Citizens Using Twitter?] Under Tighter Scrutiny Before Election
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
Prosecutors are investigating a number of suspected unlawful [sic?] political activities carried out through Twitter, Web portals and other online-based media ahead of the June 2 local elections.
After a meeting of 58 high-ranking prosecutors, [just one more than the 57 'high prosecutors accused of high corruption for over 30 years continuously^^] presided over by Prosecutor General Kim Joon-gyu, Wednesday, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office announced that it will mobilize all possible resources to crack down on illegal election activities on the Internet, stressing it will impose steep financial penalties against gains earned through illegal election campaigns.
[Court battles over refusing to pay fines may be a form of collective action soon. It was used in a very famous battle between food activists and the McDonald's corporation in the U.K.]
It also said prosecutors will make every effort to prevent unlawful rallies and politically-motivated industrial strikes that are aimed to influence election outcomes, adding it will prosecute those responsible for such unlawful activities.
“Elections should take place in a fair and neutral manner. [Without anyone's input at all?^^] Prosecutors should not take political considerations into account when investigating illicit campaign activities. Additionally, investigations should be conducted in a way not to influence political outcomes,” Kim said. [Which, er, I fail to see occurring in SK.]
The prosecutors’ office has setup a “cyber crime monitoring team,” consisting of 36 investigators, to sniff out those who engage in unauthorized election campaigns on the Internet.
With a growing number of Koreans getting information online, politicians are increasingly turning to cyberspace to get their message out and rally support. However, law enforcement authorities are concerned that Twitter and other online tools may become a hotbed for illegal election campaigns.
In February, the National Election Commission (NEC) said it would prevent politicians and their supporters from using Twitter for promotional activities ahead of the elections.
But with the rising cases of possible illegal election activities in cyberspace as elections draw near, investigators have begun looking more closely into messages posted on online media sites and are ready to prosecute those responsible for spreading false rumors about certain candidates. [If you think any government is a fountain of truth automatically without public input, it is the height of gullibility.]
Prosecutors said a 51-year CEO of a shipping firm, only identified by his surname Lee, has been under questioning for posting several messages on Twitter, falsely claiming that a candidate he supports tops many public opinion polls. Twitter, which combines the strengths of blogs and instant messaging services, enables users to send and receive short messages on personal computers and mobile devices.
Additionally, a 35-year old CEO of an advertizing agency, identified by his last name Kim, is also under investigation for stealing IDs from a number of Internet users to post promotional messages on portal sites, on behalf of candidates running for ward offices.
With 40 days left to go before the election, prosecutors said a total of 616 people have been booked and 23 have been taken into custody, lower than corresponding figures from four years ago. But the cases of illicit campaigns increased at a faster pace in April.
With many public officials running for mayor, governors and council members, 231 civil servants, including 61 incumbent heads of municipal governments, were booked. Of the 616, 330 were booked for giving and receiving money, while 43 were charged with the illegal promotion of certain candidates.
On Monday, Yeoju County head, Lee Ki-su was arrested for providing 200 million won in bribes to a Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker in an attempt to secure a party nomination in the upcoming election.
[I note the Korea Times entirely ignores police crackdown of citizens, thereby keeping its readers in the dark about what is going on--which of course is one of the purposes of a private media, to keep people in the dark. Read the argument in the 'media arenas' article. If it's unreported, it 'fails to happen' as something that could generate concern/sympathy or other mobilization for or against collective action.]
leehs@koreatimes.co.kr
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/04/117_64611.html
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ReplyDeleteZhangYu( 18/04)
ReplyDeleteChina rescue effort builds after Qinghai quake
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Chinese across the country, still haunted by the deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, are doing what they can to help the quake-hit northwestern province of Qinghai.
Qinghai's Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu was jolted by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake Wednesday morning, which has left 760 people dead.
The Beijing's municipal government, the city's Party committee, and the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau have donated ten million yuan (about 1.47 million U.S. dollars) to Yushu, while the provincial governments of Liaoning and Fujian each gave five million, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a report on its website.
An additional 3.5 million yuan was donated by Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Gansu and Hebei Provinces.
Beijing has allocated 10,000 tents, 20,000 folded beds, and 100,000 cotton quilts for the quake-hit region, with Jiangxi Province adding in another 10,000 quilts.
Meanwhile, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China raised three million yuan for quake relief, while its affiliated China Youth Development Foundation sent an emergency team with medicine, food, and other relief supplies worth one million yuan to the quake-hit zones.
The State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and the All-China Women's Federation each donated 1 million yuan to Yushu.
The MOC also ordered to ensure supply of instant noodles, drinking water, ham sausages, boxed milk, among other foods, and emergency lamps, tents, cold-proof clothes, generators and lifting jacks.
The Bank of China has donated 5.5 million yuan to Yushu and opened "Green Channels" to facilitate donation remittance service.
The Supreme People's Court donated 500,000 yuan to Yushu and pledged to help local court staff to recover damaged property.
The China Charity Federation called on the public to donate and to help the victims in earthquake. The federation donated 1 million yuan to the Qinghai Charity Foundation to save the injured, relocate affected people and assist their life.
China's Health Ministry said Thursday it has sent 200,000 cc of blood to quake zone for emergency medical use.
The blood is expected to arrive in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai Province late Thursday.
Yushu was jolted by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake Wednesday, which has left 617 people dead, 9,110 injured and 313 missing.
Liu Jun, head of the blood center in Yushu, said it had some reserve of blood on its only blood collection vehicle and medical staff were collecting more from volunteers.
Power supply had long been cut off in the blood collection center and volunteers begun to donate blood outdoors after cracks appeared on the center building.
Qinghai provincial blood center has mobilized people to donate blood for the people in need.
More than 500 injured in Yushu have been or are being transferred to provincial capitals of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai as of 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health.
The ministry said it has sent 562 medical staff carrying medicines and medical equipment to the quake zone as of 4 p.m. Thursday.
Nationwide, a total of 18 teams with 491 quake-relief experts and another 52 teams with 1,352 medical staff are on call to offer assistance to the quake zone upon request, according to the ministry.
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article
ReplyDeleteHeavy equipment and aid are arriving in Yushu county, where 791 people are now known to have died and another 294 are missing.
Local people say they believe the number of dead is much higher.
Visiting the area, Premier Wen Jiabao promised "all-out efforts" would be made to rebuild the devastated region.
With an estimated 15,000 houses destroyed in Yushu, thousands of homeless people and casualties have been waiting for help.
Many survivors have spent a second night sleeping outside in below freezing temperatures, afraid to go back indoors.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas, who has reached the worst-hit town of Jiegu, says the first thing he saw was a line of toppled pagodas, shops and other buildings.
He says many townspeople are fearful of going back even where their homes have survived. Others are leaving town, with whatever they can carry.
Heavy-lifting equipment has begun to trickle into the area after being brought in by road from hundreds of kilometres away, and food, tents and medical supplies are arriving too.
One doctor said he had lost track of how many people they had treated.
"They just keep coming one after the other," said Myima Jiaba, working at a makeshift hospital in Jiegu.
"Right now, what we need is a lot of medicine. We need antiseptics and antibiotics. And overall, we need more tents and food, and sanitation."
Thousands of Tibetan monks using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands have been helping rescue teams and local people dig survivors from the rubble.
There are people in here, we have got to find them," one monk in Jiegu told the AFP news agency.
At a foothill under the main monastery of Jiegu township, monks chanted Tibetan Buddhist mantras in front of piles of dead, Reuters news agency reports.
Some helped residents look for kin among what appeared to be hundreds of bodies, collected on a covered platform, the agency says.
"I'd say we've collected a thousand or more bodies here," said Lopu, a monk in maroon robes. "Some we found ourselves, some were sent to us."
"Many of the bodies you see here don't have families or their families haven't come looking for them, so it's our job to take good care of them."
Another monk told the AFP news agency he had come from the Ganzi region of neighbouring Sichuan province to set up a food station.
"Around 28 monasteries have sent people to help. We will be bringing in more and more supplies later today," he said.
A distraught ethnic Tibetan woman who gave her name as Sonaman said she had "lost everything".
Wandering the streets with her four-year-old nephew tucked under her coat, Sonaman, 52, said that her mother, father and sister had died.
"My house has been destroyed," she told AFP. "It's been flattened. My family lost 10 people. We have nothing. We have nothing to eat."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8624213.stm
Dasol Lyu
ReplyDeleteWhite supremacist rally at L.A. City Hall draws violent counter-protest(4/18)
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White supremacists neo-Nazi group obtained a permit for demonstration last week and gathered in front of the LA City Hall last Saturday. Then, hundreds of counter-protesters were also brought into the place, resulting in violent clash between the two groups.
Neo-Nazi group of people rallied with slogans such as "Sieg Heil." They also denounced illegal immigrants by repeatedly shouting that "If the city supports illegal aliens and criminals, that is treason." Meanwhile counter-protesters shouted back to them that "You're being protected by black and Latino cops, you cowards!"
The rally ended as counter-protesters ran into the parking lots and started crashing the white supremacists' cars. LAPD later said that their goal was to protect each side's freedom of speech while avoiding use of force as both groups are exercising their 1st Amendment rights.
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A rally of about 40 white supremacists Saturday on the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall drew hundreds of counter-protesters, sparked brawls in which two people were severely beaten and ended with crowds of demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles at police and departing supremacists.
The rally, conducted by the National Socialist Movement, prompted the Los Angeles Police Department to go on tactical alert as counter-protesters from throughout the region flooded into downtown L.A. They included a wide assortment of African American, Jewish, Latino, immigrants-rights and anarchist groups.
While some counter-protesters said they had heard about the event through social media such as Twitter and had come to urge peace in the face of the group's hateful message, others had clearly come for a fight. At least five of them were arrested by the end of the demonstration for throwing eggs and rocks.
Before members of the white supremacist group had arrived, a bare-chested middle-aged man with Nazi insignias tattooed on his chest and back walked into a crowd of hundreds of counter-protesters gathered near 1st and Spring streets.
Surrounded, the man mockingly bobbed his head to the rhythm of demonstrators chanting "Nazi scum." About a dozen protesters suddenly began pelting the man with punches and kicks. He fell and was struck on the back with the wooden handle of a protester's sign, which snapped in two. Police eventually reached the man and pulled him from the melee, as blood poured from the back of his neck.
Another man was rushed by a mob on Spring Street. He was punched in the face and kicked for about 20 seconds before police made it to the scene. After that beating was broken up, the man began running south on Spring Street, only to be chased down by a protester and slugged in the face. He collapsed and his face slammed to the curb as protesters began pummeling him again.
The bloodied man was then escorted away by police. Both victims were treated and released, police said.
His sign, unclear in its intended meaning, read "Christianity=Paganism=Heathen$" with an arrow pointing at a swastika.
"Gosh, I think he just didn't have a clear message. I don't even think he was a Nazi," said one man, looking at the broken pieces of the sign left behind.
The neo-Nazi group had obtained a permit for its demonstration earlier in the week, and police prepared the rally area by taping off a section of City Hall's shaded south lawn. About 12:30 p.m., members began delivering anti-immigrant tirades and shouts of "Sieg Heil" that echoed down the street.
"We are tired of you clogging up our streets," shouted one white supremacist.
Another group member repeatedly denounced illegal immigrants, saying, "If the city supports illegal aliens and criminals, that is treason."
(article cont'd)
ReplyDeleteA counter-protester shouted back with a bullhorn.
"You're being protected by black and Latino cops, you cowards!" she said.
The rally ended around 2:30 p.m. with counter-protesters rushing toward the criminal courts building parking lot where the white supremacists had parked their cars. Dozens of them hurled rocks and glass bottles at the neo-Nazis and their police escorts.
One vehicle failed to start. As a group of white supremacists attempted to jump-start the car, others raised swastika-emblazoned shields over their heads to protect themselves from projectiles. After the white supremacists left, police allowed the crowds to dissipate.
Cmdr. David Doan said the LAPD's goal was to protect free speech and avoid using force. "There was a tremendous amount of restraint shown by our officers," he said. "We allowed both sides to exercise their 1st Amendment rights."
Doan said it was a frustrating situation for LAPD officers. "We took some rocks and bottles when they arrived, and we took some again when the car had some trouble starting."
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-white-supremacist18-2010apr18,0,4043821.story?track=rss
Valerie Raeymaekers
ReplyDeleteAvatar director James Cameron joins Amazon tribe's fight to halt giant dam
In Brazil, The Xingu people who oppose the building of the multibillion-dollar Belo Monte hydroelectric dam project, have received support from the cast and director of the last year released hit movie "Avatar". James Cameron, who is working in Brazil alongside the US-based NGO Amazon Watch, was inspired by watching the tribe fight against this dam and said he wanted to help spread some global consciousness.
Xingu people believe that building this particular dam enholds that this will wreak havoc in communities, flooding land in some places, drying up rivers in others and triggering an influx of workers, prostitution and disease. The indigenous leaders of Xingu appealed to Cameron and his cast saying: 'Look, we have been fighting this [dam] for 20 years and we are not succeeding. They [the authorities] are just steamrollering over us, they have broken their promises and in any way that you can help, please help us.'
Although not supported by all Brazilians who say that 'This type of intervention strengthens the belief… that the aim of the ecological movement is simply to maintain the status quo of the world economy' he has received many positive attention from the Xingu tribes who see him as a positive light and as an international way of asking for more support overseas.
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One by one, the tribal leaders of the Brazilian Xingu took to their feet, wearing yellow and red feather headdresses and clutching thick wooden clubs and spears. Having travelled for days to reach the gathering in the isolated village of Mrotidjam, the Xikrin Kayapó elders stepped forward to address their visitor, a man they knew simply as Camerón.
"If they build this dam, our children will die," said one, his eyes painted a fiery red with seeds from the urucum tree. "There will be no more fish, no more hunting," another told the outsider. "I want my grandchildren to live in peace," said a third. "The dam will take that away."
Sitting before them on a wooden schoolroom chair, the guest, better known outside the rainforest as Hollywood player and director of the blockbuster 3D film Avatar, James Cameron, listened intently before addressing his hosts. "We're here to listen to what you are saying, to hear your concerns and, because I am a film-maker, to share this with the outside world," he said. "We're just here to help in any way we can."
Sitting with him as he spoke were Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore, who starred in Avatar, which charts the fight of the fictitious Na'vi people against outside attempts to pillage their resources on the planet Pandora.
The dam on the Xingu river would cost an estimated £7bn and be the third biggest of its kind. The Brazilian government has described the project as a "gift from God" and a key ingredient in attempts to boost the country's economy. But environmentalists and many indigenous leaders believe the dam is another step towards the destruction of the rainforest and its traditional peoples.
"We believe that Belo Monte is just the beginning," said Sheila Juruna, an indigenous leader from the Xingu region who has been involved in Cameron's two recent visits to Brazil. "If we let them do this they will end up… killing off Brazil's Indians once and for all."
ReplyDelete"If this goes forward then every other hydroelectric project in the Amazon basin gets a blank cheque. It's now a global issue. The Amazon rainforest is so big and so powerful a piece of the overall climate picture that its destruction will affect everyone."
Last week there appeared to have been a temporary stay of execution for those opposed to the dam after a judge suspended the Belo Monte bidding process, due to begin on Tuesday, arguing that the project could cause "irreparable [environmental] damage". But by Friday the decision had been overturned, paving the way for the dam's construction.
Inside the wooden hut, at the centre of the Mrotidjam village, the leaders responded with applause. Outside, by the riverbank, vultures hovered menacingly in a cobalt sky. "Probably the defining battle in human history is happening during our lifetime," said Cameron. "But the Chinese curse says, 'May you live in interesting times', [and] it's a curse, it's not a blessing, because if we fuck this up we've fucked it up for all of time."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/18/avatar-james-cameron-brazil-dam
Sam Wijnants
ReplyDeleteProtests Take Violent Turn as Explosions Hit Bangkok's Center
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The protests in Bangkok, Thailand, are becoming more and more violent. Since anti-government demonstrations began in Bangkok on March 14, more than 30 grenade attacks have been launched in the Thai capital. Thursday night. Four m79 grenades hit the Skytrain commuter rail line station in Bangkok's financial district, killing one person and wounding 75, including foreign tourists, and sparking a panic in the center of the city. The attacks are said to be fired from an area controlled by anti-government protesters called the Red Shirts. The red shirts protesters have occupied the city's main commercial district for more than three weeks demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and call a new election. General fear exists that Thailand is more and more descending to a state of lawlessness.
Leaders of the Red Shirts,however, denied they had anything to do with the attacks. But when they broke the news of the violence to more than 10,000 supporters at their rally site, the crowd erupted in cheers and began dancing in the street. Some shot homemade rockets at Army helicopters circling overhead. None hit their targets.
Security officials argue for strong military measures, saying that: “The government needs to enforce the law. If they don't, then the people will come out to try and solve the problems themselves. And then we will have even more problems."
----------------------------------
Since anti-government demonstrations began in Bangkok on March 14, more than 30 grenade attacks have been launched in the Thai capital. The explosives, almost always m79 rocket propelled grenades, were fired at government offices, businesses perceived as supporting the administration or army bases and soldiers. Thai security chiefs have said the attacks, usually carried out in the dead of night, appear to be designed more to warn and frighten than actually hurt anyone except soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThat all changed Thursday night. Four to five m79 grenades hit the Skytrain commuter rail line station in Bangkok's financial district at 8pm, killing one person and wounding 75, including foreign tourists, and sparking a panic in the center of the city. Suthep Thaugsuban, a deputy prime minister in charge of security, said the grenades were fired from an area controlled by anti-government protesters called the Red Shirts for the color they wear. Soldiers arrested five suspects who they said had been manning rooftops nearby, but their role in the attacks was unclear. "This just raises the conflict to a new and more dangerous level," said Thongbai Thongpao, a former senator and human rights lawyer. "Thailand had descended into lawlessness."
Leaders of the Red Shirts, whose protesters have occupied the city's main commercial district for more than three weeks demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament and call a new election, denied they had anything to do with the attacks. But when they broke the news of the violence to more than 10,000 supporters at their rally site, the crowd erupted in cheers and began dancing in the street. Some shot homemade rockets at Army helicopters circling overhead. None hit their targets.
The government has said the ongoing grenade attacks are the work of a group of rogue soldiers, both active and retired, who support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup and living abroad rather than serve a prison sentence for corruption. Thaksin is believed to fund the Red Shirt protests, and many Red Shirts are calling for his return. The rogue soldiers are led by Maj. Gen. Kattiya Sawisdphol, known more commonly by his nickname, Seh Daeng.
Security officials have come under fire from some groups for their inability or unwillingness to disperse the protesters. "The government needs to enforce the law," says Thongbai. "If they don't, then the people will come out to try and solve the problems themselves. And then we will have even more problems."
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http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1984027,00.html